Campaigners welcome Ohio governor’s call to end death penalty

‘Ohioans are increasingly recognising that the death penalty perpetuates a cycle of violence, deprives offenders of rehabilitation, and increases costs to the state.’

Catholic activists and campaigners against capital punishment praised Governor Mike DeWine’s announcement that the state of Ohio should abolish the death penalty.

Brandishing charts and graphs at a press conference on 16 June, DeWine said data shows that the death penalty does not deter crime.

“I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made, nor do I believe that there’s any chance in the future the facts that I’ve cited to support that belief will change,” said DeWine, who is a Catholic. “Therefore, I believe Ohio should abolish the death penalty.”

He also said that the long wait times that result from legal appeals playing out for those on death row often result in condemned murderers dying by natural causes or suicide before their scheduled execution dates.

DeWine, a Republican, faces a term limit in December. He said his opposition to the death penalty had cemented over the past year after decades of wrestling with the issue as a former state legislator, prosecutor, attorney general, congressman and US senator.

Kevin Werner, executive director of Ohioans to Stop Executions, told the Associated Press that DeWine’s decision is in line with “an evolution on the death penalty” across the political spectrum in Ohio.

“Nobody supports a system that harms victim families, convicts innocent people and wastes millions of dollars without a shred of improved public safety,” Werner said.

Brian Hickey, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, said in a statement that DeWine “is correct that Ohio should not kill human beings, given the flawed system of execution”.

“Ohioans are increasingly recognising that the death penalty perpetuates a cycle of violence, deprives offenders of rehabilitation, and increases costs to the state,” Hickey said.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilising Network, which advocates for the abolition of capital punishment in line with Catholic teaching, said that DeWine’s “call for the abolishment of capital punishment in Ohio is an encouraging sign and reflects growing recognition that the state can move toward a more just and life-affirming approach”.

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